Noble happy with wounded Warriors

WIGAN WARRIORS 18, HULL KR 12: Coach Brian Noble praised his side's resolve and energy - and the club's medical staff - after Wigan bounced back from the Good Friday mauling at St Helens to see
off Hull KR in a bruising battle at the JJB Stadium.

A 76th-minute score by Mark Calderwood and two earlier tries from Liam Colbon saw the Warriors home, after the Robins had threatened to spring a surprise by briefly leading 12-10 going into the
final quarter thanks to scores from Chev Walker and Clint Newton.

However, the boot of Pat Richards brought Wigan back on level terms, before Calderwood's late intervention sealed the points in front of a bumper Easter Monday crowd of 16,457.

"I thought we were worth our win and, had we executed a little bit better, we could have scored a few more points," Noble insisted.

"But Hull KR were never going to go away, and were always looking for that reason to stay in the game.

"I've got to applaud the efforts of the players to find enough resolve and energy to get back down their end of the field and post another score, which was really pleasing."

The win was even more important given the dismal defeat at St Helens just three days earlier, and Noble pointed to the way his men dug in and held out for four successive sets of six just before
the interval as a huge factor in coming away with the two points. He added: "We're pretty pleased about what we did in relation to how we showed up on Friday.

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"We only had 10 minutes on the practice field yesterday. We've got bumps on top of bumps on top of bumps.

"I'd like to pay particular praise to our medical staff to get Pat Richards and Phil Bailey ready, because certainly on Friday it didn't look like they'd be able to play any part at all."

Rovers coach Justin Morgan pointed a finger at fatigue and a lack of ball being two factors in his side's defeat, which came on the back of their nail-biting win over arch-rivals Hull on Good
Friday.

When asked for his thoughts on the gruelling Easter schedule, the Hull boss pleaded: "You can't ask them to be doing this for much longer.

"The game has come a long way, and it takes so much out of your team and out of your players.

"Penalties cost us too, and we just gave away too much field position. We were a bit fatigued and a bit tired after Friday.

"That's no excuse, but penalties were a big issue for us.

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But Wigan deserved to win the game, coming off a loss to St Helens. Morgan added: "All credit to them at the end - when they could have gone for a field goal, they backed themselves."

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